Driven by both legislative reform and technological advancement, the Australian payroll industry has undergone a significant transformation in recent years.
From evolving compliance requirements to the rise of cloud-based platforms, payroll has become more complex, precise, and central to business operations.
Payroll in Australia
- 1992 – Superannuation Guarantee: These changes commenced with the introduction of Compulsory Superannuation (Superannuation Guarantee) on the 1 July 1992.
- 2002 – Superannuation Guarantee increases to 9%: 1 July 2002.
- 2005 – Super Choice: ‘Super Choice’ was introduced on 1 July 2005. This meant that Employers then had to pay to the Employees chosen fund. This often-meant Employers were reporting and paying Super to many, many different funds which was quite an administrative burden.
- 2010 – Introduction of Modern Awards: On the 1 January 2010 as part of Australia’s workplace relations reforms a collection of modern awards was released, setting out the minimum terms and conditions of employment based on the National Employment Standards.
- 2010 - SBSCH: On the 1 July 2010 the Government released the Small Business Superannuation Clearing House (SBSCH), a free service to Employers with fewer than 20 staff, introduced to ease the administration burden to Employers. Initially under Medicare, in 2018 it was moved under the banner of the ATO. The SBSCH will be decommissioned on 1 July 2026 as Payday Super comes into effect.
While other Superannuation Clearing Houses were available earlier, they often came at a cost to the Employer. - 2011 – SuperStream: In 2011 the ATO mandated ‘SuperStream’, requiring payment and reporting of Superannuation contributions in a standardised electronic format (no more paper forms). This was also the time that Superannuation Clearing Houses became common place and the use of a Clearing house meant that you no longer had to report and pay super to many different funds, instead one report, one payment and the Clearing House reported distributed the payment to the many funds that were included in the lodgement.
- 2013 – Superannuation Guarantee increases to 9.25%: 1 July 2013.
- 2014 – Superannuation Guarantee increases to 9.5%: 1 July 2014.
2018 - Single Touch Payroll: In July 2018, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) began the implementation of Single Touch Payroll (STP). STP is the electronic reporting of Employees Payroll information, along with some Employee details. The ATO require the employer to report STP on or before each payroll event (Pay Day). This includes the reporting of Salaries, Wages, allowance, deductions and other payments including Super and PAYG Withholding.
It is important to note that reporting STP does not replace Superannuation Reporting to the Superannuation Clearing Houses or Employees Superfund each quarter.
An Employee can then access year to date payroll information via their MyGov Account as a result of Single Touch Payroll. This data is also available to other Government departments as well, including Centrelink, Child Support and Fairwork.
2020 - Criminalisation of Wage Theft (Qld): Wage Theft is the deliberate underpayment or non payment of wages to employees. It maybe the underpayment of hourly rates/hours or withholding entitlements such as leave and penalty rates, or an employer deliberately not making the required superannuation contributions on an employee's behalf.
On the 14 September 2020 the Queensland Criminal Code was amended to enable wage theft to be prosecuted as stealing. Employers engaging in deliberate wage theft from their Employees now face a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.
- 2021 – Superannuation Guarantee increases to 10%: 1 July 2021.
- 2022 – Superannuation Guarantee increases to 10.5%: 1 July 2022.
- 2023 – Superannuation Guarantee increases to 11%: 1 July 2023.
- 2024 – Superannuation Guarantee increases to 11.5%: 1 July 2024.
- 2025 – Criminalisation of Wage Theft (Federal): From the 1 January 2025 criminalisation of intentional wage theft became Federal Law. Criminalisation of Wage Theft (Federal).
- 2025 – Superannuation Guarantee increases to 12%: 1 July 2025.
- 2026 – Payday Super: Payday super is set to be introduced on the 1 July 2026. It is anticipated that employers will be required to pay their employees superannuation guarantee at the same time as they pay their employees.